Work Text:
Mod Tal turns towards the stove.
“I could only find canned sour cherries – it’s still too early for fresh ones. But I think it won't make much of a difference when we boil it down anyway.”
“Yeah, the juice will just add flavour.” Deniz reasons.
“You’re supposed to strain it, but honestly I can’t be arsed. The recipe calls for a splash of water, that can be the juice.”
They empty both jars of pitted cherries into a saucepan, along with 200 grams of sugar, the juice and zest of two lemons, and 70 grams of cornflour. Tal uses a spatula to stir regularly as they let the mixture come to a boil.
“Use only one lemon if you like it less sour.” Mod Tal turns to an invisible camera, staring directly down the lens. “And slowly simmer the compote down to your preferred texture. Remember, it will thicken more as it cools down!”
“That’s going to take a while to reduce. Maybe we should have strained those cherries after all.” Deniz mutters after a beat, turning the stove to a low heat.
“Should we prepare the tags while we wait?” Tal offers, and Deniz perks up.
“As long as we remember to stir it occasionally.”
They take their time crafting as the compote reduces, regularly checking so it doesn’t burn. Eventually it reaches the desired texture, and they pour it into a bowl to cool down.
Tal turns back to the invisible viewers. “We’re going to put this in the freezer to cool down faster, because we’re impatient. You should probably let it come to room temperature naturally, though. If I was a more organised person, I’d make this compote the day before, and leave it in the fridge until I’m ready to assemble the cake. Oh, and you can blend it to achieve a smoother texture!”
“Right, let’s get on with the ganache. Can you chop the white chocolate? Let’s use all 450 grams just in case. I got nice chocolate, so it should taste really really good.”
Deniz chops the chocolate finely and puts them in a heatproof bowl while Tal heats up 225 grams of double cream to a simmer. Then they pour it over the chopped chocolate and stir slowly until everything is incorporated.
Tal turns to face the lack of camera, once again.
“Now. This is where things go wrong. You should absolutely do the ganache first, as it requires chilling overnight before whipping it for a few minutes with an electric mixer until it lightens and holds stiff peaks. I relied on the “put it in the freezer to cool” method here as transporting ganache across town was not feasible. It probably would have worked, if it hadn’t been for one big problem…”
“What do you mean, you don’t have a hand mixer?!” Tal exclaims in terror.
Deniz shrugs.
“What can I say, I love whisking too much to let a machine take that away from me.”
A beat.
“We can just try doing it by hand, see if that works.” Tal offers.
“Might as well. Wanna make yourself in tomodachi life while we do that?”
“Sure.”
“What face shape do I have?” Tal asks, as Deniz shakes out their hand and wrist after several minutes of vigorous whisking.
“I think you’re quite rectangular? Yeah something like- Okay, seriously. Is this more liquidy than it was before we started?!”
Tal stares intently at the cream-chocolate mixture drizzling down from the whisk. It was supposed to be the consistency of soft peanut butter, whatever that meant.
“…I think so.”
“Fuck.”
They sit in their exhaustion for a moment, as Tal’s mii declares its intent to go to art school in the background.
“Do you have any icing sugar? It’ll be way too sweet but it’ll definitely solidify.” Tal mutters, deep in thought.
“Yeah I do.”
“Sick. Let’s do that, and film this thing.”
After rescuing the ganache, they are ready to assemble the cake.
They combine equal parts water and sugar in a bowl with a dash of vanilla extract to make a cake soak that they brush over each layer as they assemble the cake, making sure to give a few minutes for it to absorb before continuing. Each sponge is first topped with a thin layer of ganache, then with a generous helping of cherry compote.
Finally they crumb coat the whole cake in a thin layer of ganache, resting it for 15 minutes before properly frosting and decorating.
“You know, this looks pretty good.” Tal nods, looking at the final product.
“I sure hope nobody thinks it looks like baked beans and mashed potatoes.”
“Why would they? It doesn’t look anything like that.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.”
The filming of the tiktok takes five minutes in the end, an almost anticlimactic finale to all the build up. Afterwards, they cut a slice and share it at the kitchen table, proud of their work.
“Love the olive oil sponge.” Deniz said between bites. “Never heard of that before.”
Tal freezes.
“Oh shit, I missed the most important part. Let me just, uh, tell you the instructions for that, so you can actually make the cake. You’ll need three 6 inch pans for this.
Ingredients:
- 270g all purpose flour
- 300g granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons vanilla bean paste or extract
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 225 ml olive oil
- 390 ml whole milk
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 175C.
- Grease and line your cake tins with extra virgin olive oil and baking paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk to combine your flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
- In an additional mixing bowl, add your eggs, vanilla, milk, and oil and whisk to combine.
- Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients and gradually pour in your wet while whisking to combine. Only whisk until there are no pockets of dry flour. Do not over mix. The batter will be thin.
- Transfer your batter evenly to your cake tins and tap on the counter to remove any air bubbles.
Bake your cake layers for around 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove your tins from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before inverting. Remove the baking paper and let it cool completely (2-3 hours).
After resting, carefully remove the tops of each layer so it’s flat. Then you’re ready to assemble!
“Tal. Bro, what the f– TAL!” Deniz waves their hand in front of Tal's face, and they startle.
“What the hell was that? You’ve been staring into space and talking to yourself all day.”
“Yeah, sorry, I just do that sometimes.”
Deniz shrugs, taking Tal's response at face value.
Perhaps hobby bakers are just Like That.